Introduction
by blazerrose
Summary: Jack meets his new assistant, one a great deal brighter than Serena.


Introduction  
  
Jack was seated at his desk, engrossed in reading a file. A knock at his door couldn't disturb him. The young female voice said, "Mr. McCoy?" He never looked up and replied, "Just put it on my desk." Not to be chagrined, Kathryn Robbins walked over, made sure her hem was short enough, and plopped down on top of Jack's desk, crossing her legs and sticking out her right hand to shake his. "Hi! I'm your new assistant – Kathryn Robbins, nice to meet you!" Jack stuck his tongue in his lower lip, pushed back his chair, and shook her hand. "I deserved that. I'm sorry, I thought you were one of the secretaries." She stood, and folded her arms. "Well, that wasn't a very good way to get started working together. Shall I go out and try this again?" Jack couldn't help but look her up and down, and realized yet once again he had been sent a young, pretty female assistant. Arthur must be trying to torment me, he thought, tall, thin, red hair, green eyes, great smile, nice body, stop it Jack. He shook his head to break the thoughts and told her, "No, that won't be necessary. Please, sit, tell me about yourself. Arthur tells me you spent the last seven years in traffic?"  
  
"You say that like it's a bad thing. It doesn't have the glamour or prestige of this office, but I did a lot of work with narcotics. Just like they got Al Capone on tax evasion, I could get the pesky perps for traffic infractions to buy the time the narcotics ADA's needed to get the drug charges drawn up. Now, why was I down there for so long? You'll find out that I can be rather outspoken, and I openly disagreed with Adam Schiff when he was here about how a case should be handled, and suddenly my name no longer came up on promotion lists, and I got left behind while some very much less qualified people got placed ahead of me in the various departments. I came up to meet with Arthur when I heard there was an opening up here, and he liked me in the interview. I hope I can impress you as much."  
  
"What was your conviction rate?"  
  
"95%. I never lost a case when I worked with narcotics. You can think of me like a Canadian Mountie – I always get my man." She blushed as she realized that sounded funny, and said, "Sorry, that didn't come out right."  
  
Jack laughed and told her, "I know what you meant. That is an impressive rate of success. Unfortunately, up here, we don't have such luck. We have an 87% rate. Go on – where did you go to school?"  
  
"I did my undergrad work at Mount Holyoke College, and I went to law school at the University of Oregon. I'm from Portland originally, a little neighborhood called Laurelhurst, with neatly manicured lawns and lovely homes, most of them built in the 30's. It felt like a living Donna Reed Show. I came to New York, I guess because of the song. 'If I can make it here I can make it anywhere' kind of thing. Don't worry – I don't suffer from any delusions of grandeur. I'm a public servant because I want to be. You're probably wondering about my approach to the law." Jack nodded. "I guess you could call me a strict constructionist. I think Earl Warren wrote law instead of interpreting it. The militia should own guns, not the general public. I believe the death penalty has a purpose for those who just can't be rehabilitated. I think it's wrong for cop killers to get murder one – what makes that crime worse than any other? I believe the law says what it means and means what it says. That being said, I will put together any law combination necessary to put the crook away as long as possible. I don't like making piddling deals. I go for the jugular. Well, there you have it. Me in a nutshell. Oh, and I saw your look earlier – I'm 5'9", 135lbs, 34-27-37. Anything else you want to know?"  
  
Jack was still leaning against his credenza, arms folded in front of him. "No, perhaps I know too much. I'm sorry to have eyed you. That was improper of me."  
  
"Took some sensitivity training, I see. Don't worry, this is still a male- dominated field and it doesn't bother me. I hate to say it, but I guess I'm used to it. We've gotten off to an awkward start so far. Suffice it to say I really am looking forward to working with you. We actually studied a couple of your early cases in criminology class – and you're a legend in this building. I hope to be able to capture some of your brilliance."  
  
Jack found himself smiling. He had met his female counterpart. This was going to be a good match. "I'm likewise looking forward to working with you, Kathryn."  
  
"Call me Kathy. So what's up for our first case?" 


End file.
